Robyn Aber help us to explore how routers and switches are the keys to a strong network foundation.Together they enable the intelligent, end-to-end movement of converged data, voice, and video information within or outside the business.

This chapter is from the book

A solid network foundation is the key to business agility, process
efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. It provides intelligent services
such as security, availability, reliability, and quality of service (QoS). This
makes it possible for small-medium companies to run desired business
applications and advanced technologies, establish competitive advantage, extend
or streamline their operations, improve responsiveness to customers and
partners, and reduce the costs of ongoing network management.

Routers and switches are the keys to a strong network foundation. Together
they enable the intelligent, end-to-end movement of converged data, voice, and
video information within or outside the business.

Switches and routers provide the following network functions:

Switches connect users directly to the network and serve as the primary
path for traffic moving within local networks. As more-sophisticated business
applications, higher volumes of traffic, and tighter security measures have put
greater demands on the network, switches have evolved to give companies greater
intelligence and control.

Routers deliver information from a source to its intended destination via
the most efficient route across different types of networks. As networks have
developed, the line between the roles of switches and routers has continued to
blur. The clear trend is toward switches prevailing in the LAN, while routers
dominate in the WAN and at the company perimeter (or LAN edge) for WAN
access.

Small-medium businesses are becoming increasingly dependent on networks to
operate efficiently, serve customers effectively, and work with partners and
suppliers more collaboratively. Faced with all the challenges and opportunities
of competing in a fast-paced environment, growing companies must be especially
confident that their networks can support business evolution. Building an
effective network foundation is integral to, and an operational insurance policy
for, achieving e-business transformation. You can think of this foundation as
equivalent to a person's skeletal structure. It is the support system. The
stronger, healthier, and more flexible is, the greater the range of movement,
carrying capacity, and longevity or stamina. A network foundation serves that
same skeletal role for a business.

It is vital that small-medium businesses focus their attention on the
critical success factors that drive growth in their particular market. They
cannot afford to expend precious time rearchitecting, relearning, and managing
networks. Network infrastructures should be the invisible plumbing that enables
the transport of company information and communications and enables efficient
processes. When the invisible becomes visible and companies run up against
infrastructure limitations, this can lead to revenue losses, information privacy
breaches, and customer dissatisfaction. This is because network problems can
result in poor responsiveness and/or the dissemination of faulty data. Such
occurrences can seriously undermine a company's competitiveness and
credibility.

The way to avoid such problems is to ensure that the foundation or core
infrastructure is well constructed, adaptable to changing environments,
intelligent, and operable with minimal administrative intervention. The network
should not be so time-consuming to set up and manage that it detracts from the
business's primary focus.

The Value of a Business-Class Network

As noted previously, the key elements of an intelligent network foundation
are switches and routers that deliver security, availability, reliability, and
quality of service. A business-class network should provide the following
capabilities:

Protection from security breachesBudget-conscious
small-medium companies might feel particularly conflicted as they weigh the
costs associated with implementing comprehensive network security against the
cost of potential breaches. When security features are integral to a
network's foundation, they simplify management while they protect business
operations, improve business resiliency, prevent damage to intellectual property
assets, mitigate business disruptions, and reduce the network's total cost
of ownership (TCO).

Continuous availability and network reliabilityAs business
information systems become ever more strategic to a company's success, so
does the importance of keeping them always onlineable to recover
from failureand accessible anywhere. The proliferation of powerful
desktops and servers running bandwidth-intensive applications has some networks
straining to keep up. With each new user, device, or application, the underlying
infrastructure comes under that much more stress. The network foundation must be
prepared to support increasing numbers of users with 24/7 uptime; run new
services and applications; extend its reach to new offices, customers, and
partners; and support a more mobile workforce. The bottom-line business impact
of an available network is increased productivity.

Quality of serviceQoS lets small-medium businesses use the
network infrastructure, including LAN and WAN connections, more efficiently. As
networks continue to converge (integrate voice, data, and video into a single
network), it becomes increasingly important to ensure the efficient coexistence
of high-priority and low-priority information transfer. Incorporating QoS into
the network foundation lets you assign higher priority to business-critical
applications and delay-sensitive traffic such as voice, video, and real-time
transactions.

Network Foundation Relevance

When thinking about the business value of a solid network foundation, you
cannot help but ask, "Does this apply to my business?" or "Do I
really need this?" A business-class, intelligent network foundation is
suitable for use by any small-medium business to which the following criteria
apply:

The business depends on a network to handle mission-critical
operations.

It runs e-commerce and web applications that exchange real-time
information online with customers, partners, and employees.

It is concerned about adding new business applications while maintaining
the performance level of existing applications.

It is poised for growth or is experiencing growth that is straining the
limits of the existing network infrastructure.

It wants to implement advanced technologies such as IP telephony, storage
networks, wireless mobility, and security or a VPN (virtual private
network).

It wants to compete or partner with larger businessesin terms of
geographic reach, types of customers served, or hours of operation.

The critical network foundation elements (switches and routers), along with
their value propositions and related investment decision criteria, are covered
in this chapter.